Guest Post by Emma Brush A visit to Arlington was the occasion for this undeserved opportunity of mine to post. Originally, my Uncle Jamie had a jury trial scheduled. Knowing that I was considering law school, he thought it would be fun for me to see. Unfortunately, the court date was postponed. Fortunately, he had a juvenile case that was …
After a guest post by my brother turned out to be one of the most popular pages on this site, I had hoped that the classics scholar was going to be a regular contributor on this site. Alas, my no good brother has turned out to be a complete slacker with better ways to spend his time. So I am …
I walk my client out to the street afterward (“You mean I don’t have to sign anything, I can just go?”), disappointed that, since it is late in the day, there is no one still at the courthouse to share the news with. First I get my wife’s voice mail. Then I get my investigator’s. Walking over to the parking …
Dear Officer Parrish: A couple of weeks ago, I cross-examined one of your colleagues from the 3rd District. The issue at that hearing was similar to the one under consideration today: Whether or not the arresting officer had reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain my client. Your colleague decided to strengthen the government’s case against my client by lying. …
We have been coming to Cape Cod with my extended family now for 25 years. We came first as couples. Then we came with children. With the 13 cousins growing up and the rest of us just getting old, it is unclear how many more years we will cross the Sagamore Bridge to make this trip. Like a game of …
Ten years ago this month, I walked out of the Ronald Reagan Building carrying a single cardboard box. Having just resigned from the federal government, the box contained all I had to show after an 18-year career: a coffee mug, photographs, some personal papers, and the plaque they had just given me at a going-away party. The last thing I …
“[I]t is a matter of common knowledge that men who are entirely innocent do sometimes fly from the scene of a crime through fear of being apprehended as the guilty parties, or from an unwillingness to appear as witnesses. Nor is it true as an accepted axiom of criminal law that ‘the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the …
Back when I was a public defender, my office mate used to come across me reading transcripts from court hearings I had done – from either a trial or a preliminary hearing – and kid me. I thought I was being conscientious, working hard to make myself a better lawyer. He thought I was being vain. Apparently he hadn’t read …
My wife complains about all the closet space I take up with my neckties. I do have lots of them. You see, I have this theory about ties, a theory that was finally confirmed by the guy who sells me my clothes. If you keep wearing the same tie, the tie will refuse to lie flat after a couple of …
To my godson Ross, who has just been accepted to Villanova Law for next fall, I offer the following advice on starting law school. There are lots of books out there with handy tips on doing well at law school: how to brief cases, how to interact with your classmates, how to prepare for exams, and so on. Go out …